Sugarfree Lovers

February 22, 2010

Living far from family at a new place, new environment is the story of every young professional these days. I am not doing any out the world job by staying in Bangalore, 1834 Km away from my loved ones. Yes being a north Indian it was difficult for me to adjust to the different food (some vegetables I am still trying to figure out what they are), language, culture, weather and many more in the beginning and I feel that’s the reason India is called a versatile country. Anyways I will put light on our country's versatility some other time :D . Now I want to take your attention to the Idiot Box, the Television or say the TV Set.

For someone like me Television is the best friend after long day at office. The moment I enter my room the first thing I do is to switch on the TV and then do all my work... It makes the room lively :) . But now days on all the channels I get overdose of reality shows. Which brings this thought in my mind…"Is Reality losing its real meaning”. How can I differentiate between real and fake in today’s world?

In Television Industry the word is TRP (Television Rating Point), which decides the future of any show on Air. “Jo Bikta hai woh Dikhta hai” and that’s why Reality shows are the hottest pick of all channels now days. Apparently I think MTV Rodies was the 1st Indian Reality show which became the most popular one. Today every teenager wants to make it to rodies. Those idiotic boys and dumb girls using F*** words all the time come on the show are the role models for many college goings. Archies gallery has started a new Rodies merchandise range as they know that all this 'wanna be Rodies' will love them and without a second thought they will put their parent's hard earned money on them. But that’s not all, today if you open the television you will find reality entertainment for all kind of people.

Now MTV has less music & more Reality shows like Splitsvilla –Where love is war (It has to be war only when your girlfriend or boyfriend is left day & night with Ten hot singles who want to get into couple by hook or crook), Making the Cut etc… . Channel V is also not far behind, is arranging blind dates on Dare to Date. I have seen a girl who first came on Dare to Date as a single and dated two guys and then in a month’s time she was again on splitsvilla as a couple with third guy, with whom she is from past one year as she claims. I must say she has a very open-minded boyfriend, in case it was all real and not for reality ;) .Not to forget the Emotional Atyachar on UTV Bindass, where you can spy on your personal relationship (Boy or Girl friend). How can someone do this on national TV to whom they say they love?

Now let’s go to the favorite entertainment channels where from Shadi to Tirthyatra everything is there. You must have heard of BIG BOSS (The Indian version of BIG BROTHER) where this B or C grade celebrities are kept together for 40 days with cameras everywhere. Do you feel they will be real with cameras watching them day and night? Fake friendship, fake smile may be the bitching is real indeed :P . When talking about Reality TV, how can we forget Rakhi ka Swayamwar . This ended with engagement and not shadi as Rakhi Sawant wanted to check there compatibility off the camera, Then why she chose to do a swayamwar on TV? The answer is its all business baby :) . But this time Rahul Mahajan is coming with Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jaega with tag line Is baar swayamwar nahi shadi. And I just don’t understand what these girls or boys are up to, why they come to do shadi on TV? Do they really want to get married? To my surprise there was one 19 year girl who came to marry 35 year old Rahul Mahajan. There was one girl saying “Rahul I love you from past 10 years”, when Rahul became a public figure only after July 2006 (his father Pramod Mahajan’s Death) how can she know him so much that she fell in love with him that time itself. This shows how real the reality TV is. Sometimes I feel that the boys & girls on such shows are dumb or maybe they are super clever and I am the fool watching them and praying some brains for them.

Oh I don’t want to miss this that now you can get tips on babysitting also from TV. The show Pati Patni or woh shows how the real chemistry of a couple comes out when a baby enters there life. I feel pathetic about the parents who gave their cute small babies to these heartless celebrities for experimenting, who use to yell on the small babies and what else can we expect from them as those couples are there for money and not for your babies.

It is quite clear that reality has nothing real but it’s a business, Business for TRP. Reality shows are the Sahrukh Khan of TV… “We can love them, we can hate them, but we can’t ignore them”. And now when we know that we can’t ignore them we better decide how much we should let it influence our life. People use them as launching pad for their career in Television, till there it’s fine. But dropping out from your college, leaving your studies and dreaming day & night to make it to Rodies is waste of your precious life. It is just a show and nothing but TRP, business and Money for the channel & producers. They take people who they feel can make the show interesting. But other than this heavy emotional drama we have some really good reality shows also like the KBC (Kaun Banega Crorepati) which improved the general knowledge of common man, India's got talent by which I came to know that India has so much talent hidden in it. So many dance forms, art forms… it was awesome. The winner of the show was “Prince Group”.

It was the group of 26 artistes, this troupe is said to be comprised of youths of poor families of menial labourers who got together to use dance as entertainment and profession. The group’s members have rural background and belong to Orissa’s backward Behrampore district. Our country has so much of talent and we only adore our film stars (sad). Mission Navy this had come on National geographic channel. Here all the tasks were of equal scale to both the genders and a girl participant went on to win an internship with the Indian navy. It showcased how rigorous is the selection process of the Indian Navy and how much physical, mental strength and the right attitude one must possess to make it there. Hats off to the Indian navy for safeguarding the Indian coast line.

This is my take on this entire reality show syndrome (No heart feeling to anyone :) ). It’s up to the smart viewers of today to judge what would be better for them. So don’t waste your life behind them. Watch them enjoy them but in limits because it is nothing but TRP for Channels and nothing but a television show for us. Mind it :D